Brianna Gambetti, PhD

Brianna Gambetti is a 5^th year PhD student in human development and family studies in the School of Human Ecology. She has been a project assistant for the Hartley Lab since 2018, administering neuropsychological assessments to adults with Down syndrome as part of the Alzheimer’s Biomarker Consortium-Down syndrome study. As part of her work on this study, Brianna is interested in how modifiable lifestyle factors such as sleep quality or employment may influence the development of dementia in adults with Down syndrome. Brianna is broadly interested in investigating methods for improving quality of life for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. By utilizing data from the Family Outcomes in Autism Spectrum Disorders study, her dissertation is examining associations between parent depression symptoms and child mental health problems in families of autistic children as well as the underlying mechanisms that may be influencing these associations. More specifically, Brianna is investigating the impact of parent-child relationship quality (through the constructs of parental warmth and criticism) and parent-couple relationship satisfaction on both parent depression and child mental health problems. Her past research has explored associations between parent couple conflict and internalizing and externalizing problems in autistic children. In her free time, Brianna enjoys spending time outside, cooking, reading, painting, and spending time with her husband and two sweet daughters.